2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship

The 2014 BRDC Formula 4 Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars held across England. The championship featured a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers competing in 2 litre Duratec single seat race cars that conformed to the technical regulations for the championship. The 2014 season was the second BRDC Formula 4 Championship organized by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision company, with support from the British Racing Drivers' Club in the United Kingdom, and dedicated championship highlights shown on ITV4 the weekend after each round, in a prime time slot. The season began at Silverstone on 26 April and ended on 26 October at Snetterton, after 8 triple header events amassing to 24 races.

Heading into the final round of the championship, six drivers were in mathematical contention to win the championship. Lanan Racing team-mates Arjun Maini and George Russell led the standings, with Maini 21 points clear of Russell. HHC Motorsport duo Sennan Fielding and Raoul Hyman were split by five points for third and fourth places, with Struan Moore (Lanan Racing) and Will Palmer (HHC Motorsport) requiring results to go in their favour, despite being in the running.[1] Russell took pole position for the opening race,[2] but Fielding was the highest placed at the end, in third place; Russell cut Maini's lead slightly with a seventh, while Palmer and Moore could no longer win the title due to their results.[3] Maini took pole for the second race, due to his eighth place and the regulations for the partially reversed grid order stipulating such. Maini led from the start, before Hyman and Russell passed him early in the race. Maini fell to fifth as he made an error later in the race, dropping him behind Fielding and Moore. Hyman held the lead until the end which meant that four drivers could still win the title in the final race.[4]

Maini held a 13-point lead over Russell, with Fielding 5 points further adrift, and Hyman the outsider, 25 points adrift of Maini. Russell started from pole position, with Hyman, Fielding and Maini behind.[5] Hyman made the best start to take the lead from Russell at the start, but Russell regained the lead the following lap, and ultimately went on to win the race; a season-high fifth victory. With Maini down in fifth place, it enabled Russell to clinch the title by just three points.[6] With the championship, he received a prize test with the Arden Motorsport GP3 team at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season, as well as a £25,000 cash prize.[7] Behind Maini, Hyman's second place finish allowed him to jump Fielding for third place in the championship, by a single point. All three drivers won four races over the course of the season, including a hat-trick for Fielding at Silverstone, a first for the series. Other drivers to win races were Moore at Oulton Park, Palmer won twice at the first Snetterton meeting, as well as single victories for Diego Menchaca (Snetterton), and Brands Hatch victories for Gustavo Lima, Gaetano di Mauro and Chris Middlehurst.

Teams and drivers

2014 Entry List[8]
Team No. Driver Rounds
United Kingdom Douglas Motorsport 2 Republic of Ireland Charlie Eastwood[9] All
26 Mexico Rodrigo Fonseca[10] All
68 Mexico Diego Menchaca[11] All
United Kingdom HHC Motorsport 3 United Kingdom Will Palmer[12] All
4 United Kingdom Sennan Fielding[13] All
7 South Africa Raoul Hyman[14] All
United Kingdom Hillspeed 5 Brazil Gustavo Lima[15] 1–6
12 Mexico Alfredo Zabalza[16] 1–2, 4–8
72 Malaysia Rahul Raj Mayer[8] All
United Kingdom Lanan Racing 8 United Kingdom George Russell[17] All
9 United Kingdom Struan Moore[18] All
36 India Arjun Maini[19] All
United Kingdom Chris Dittmann Racing 10 United Kingdom Tom Jackson[20] 1–6
11 United Kingdom Tom Bale[21] 4–8
17 United Kingdom Piers Hickin[22] 8
United Kingdom Mark Godwin Racing 13 Netherlands Michael Claessens[23] All
16 United Kingdom Chris Middlehurst[24] 1–6
43 United Kingdom David Wagner[25] 1–3
Brazil Petroball Racing 21 Brazil Gaetano di Mauro[26] All
61 United States Dan Roeper[27] 1–3
United Kingdom Sean Walkinshaw Racing
SWR – Caterham F1[28]
22 Spain Álex Palou[29] 5
23 United Kingdom Jordan Albert[30] All
27 Denmark Nicolas Beer[31] 1–4
41 Venezuela Diego Borrelli[32] All
United Kingdom Meridian Racing[33] 35 United Kingdom Connor Jupp[33] 5–8
42 United Kingdom Jai Nijjar[33] 5–7
United Kingdom Enigma Motorsport 51 Norway Falco Wauer[34] 1–2

Race calendar and results

The first Brands Hatch race weekend was held in support of the Blancpain Sprint Series. Later in the season, at the first Snetterton meeting and the second Brands Hatch meeting, the series formed part of the support package to British GT Championship rounds.

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team
1 R1 Silverstone Circuit
(Grand Prix, Northamptonshire)
26 April South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom Sennan Fielding South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R2 27 April United Kingdom Will Palmer United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Lanan Racing
R3 United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Lanan Racing
2 R4 Brands Hatch
(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent)
17 May South Africa Raoul Hyman India Arjun Maini South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R5 18 May United Kingdom Sennan Fielding Brazil Gustavo Lima United Kingdom Hillspeed
R6 United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Lanan Racing
3 R7 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit
(300 Circuit, Norfolk)
21 June United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Will Palmer United Kingdom Will Palmer United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R8 22 June India Arjun Maini India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Lanan Racing
R9 India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Will Palmer United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
4 R10 Oulton Park
(International Circuit, Cheshire)
18 July United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Struan Moore United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Lanan Racing
R11 19 July India Arjun Maini India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Lanan Racing
R12 United Kingdom Chris Middlehurst United Kingdom Struan Moore United Kingdom Lanan Racing
5 R13 Silverstone Circuit
(Grand Prix, Northamptonshire)
16 August United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R14 17 August United Kingdom Will Palmer United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R15 South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
6 R16 Brands Hatch
(Grand Prix Circuit, Kent)
30 August Brazil Gaetano di Mauro India Arjun Maini Brazil Gaetano di Mauro Brazil Petroball Racing
R17 31 August India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Chris Middlehurst United Kingdom Mark Godwin Racing
R18 United Kingdom George Russell India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Lanan Racing
7 R19 Donington Park
(Grand Prix Circuit, Leicestershire)
20 September United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Sennan Fielding United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R20 21 September South Africa Raoul Hyman South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R21 United Kingdom Sennan Fielding India Arjun Maini United Kingdom Lanan Racing
8 R22 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit
(300 Circuit, Norfolk)
25 October United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom George Russell Mexico Diego Menchaca United Kingdom Douglas Motorsport
R23 26 October United Kingdom George Russell South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom HHC Motorsport
R24 South Africa Raoul Hyman United Kingdom George Russell United Kingdom Lanan Racing

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in all races.

Races Position, points per race
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
Races 1 & 3 35 29 24 21 19 17 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Race 2 25 22 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Drivers' championship

Pos. Driver SIL BRH SNE OUL SIL BRH DON SNE Points
1 United Kingdom George Russell 5 1 1 4 3 1 3 3 6 1 6 Ret 5 6 6 10 3 5 2 6 Ret 7 2 1 483
2 India Arjun Maini 8 11 2 2 4 4 8 1 4 7 1 Ret 3 8 4 3 2 1 4 4 1 8 5 5 480
3 South Africa Raoul Hyman 1 4 10 1 10 3 2 13 3 2 2 Ret 6 7 2 4 4 12 7 1 Ret 6 1 2 465
4 United Kingdom Sennan Fielding 3 10 DSQ 5 5 2 4 NC 2 5 17 4 1 1 1 6 9 4 1 7 9 3 3 4 464
5 United Kingdom Struan Moore Ret 3 5 6 7 Ret 9 6 7 4 4 1 2 Ret 3 2 6 3 3 5 10 5 4 6 412
6 United Kingdom Will Palmer 7 6 6 3 6 8 1 5 1 6 3 3 Ret 3 7 8 7 Ret 5 2 Ret Ret 17 18 356
7 Mexico Diego Menchaca 2 8 3 Ret 8 11 7 2 8 10 9 Ret 7 DSQ 10 16 11 13 6 3 2 1 18 9 327
8 Brazil Gaetano di Mauro 12 Ret 12 11 16 9 14 9 5 12 11 6 11 2 9 1 Ret 2 10 9 DNS 4 6 7 301
9 United Kingdom Chris Middlehurst Ret 7 4 7 2 5 10 Ret 15 3 5 2 10 DSQ 8 7 1 9 253
10 Republic of Ireland Charlie Eastwood 18 Ret 7 14 13 10 15 14 9 18 12 Ret 12 11 Ret 12 Ret 8 8 10 4 2 8 3 233
11 United Kingdom Jordan Albert 13 13 13 DNS 18 6 18 8 16 15 13 7 14 14 13 5 5 7 9 11 3 Ret 15 13 226
12 Malaysia Rahul Raj Mayer 9 14 11 10 11 14 11 7 12 16 10 Ret 8 9 11 11 Ret 11 Ret 12 6 10 7 10 223
13 Mexico Rodrigo Fonseca 11 16 8 9 9 12 13 DSQ 14 20 14 Ret 15 4 12 Ret 16 6 11 8 5 Ret 11 12 200
14 Brazil Gustavo Lima 6 5 9 8 1 18 6 4 10 9 7 Ret 13 Ret 14 9 12 Ret 194
15 United Kingdom Tom Jackson Ret 12 19 12 19 16 16 11 13 8 Ret 5 Ret 5 15 13 8 10 136
16 Venezuela Diego Borrelli 14 Ret 17 16 12 7 17 15 Ret 19 Ret 8 16 10 21 14 Ret 14 13 18 13 Ret 14 14 128
17 Mexico Alfredo Zabalza Ret Ret 16 15 15 DNS 13 Ret Ret 9 15 18 15 10 16 12 14 8 11 10 15 124
18 Netherlands Michael Claessens 17 17 18 Ret 20 DNS Ret 12 18 14 15 9 18 16 19 19 Ret 19 16 15 14 12 16 16 100
19 United Kingdom Connor Jupp Ret 12 17 17 13 17 14 13 7 9 9 11 93
20 Denmark Nicolas Beer 4 2 Ret Ret 21 DNS 5 Ret 19 11 8 Ret 87
21 United Kingdom Tom Bale 17 16 Ret 17 18 16 18 14 15 15 17 11 Ret 13 17 69
22 United Kingdom David Wagner 10 9 15 13 Ret 13 12 Ret 11 64
23 Spain Álex Palou 4 13 5 48
24 United States Dan Roeper 16 15 14 DNS 17 17 Ret 10 17 41
25 United Kingdom Jai Nijjar 19 17 20 20 15 18 17 16 12 35
26 United Kingdom Piers Hickin Ret 12 8 22
27 Norway Falco Wauer 15 Ret 20 Ret 14 15 20
Pos. Driver SIL BRH SNE OUL SIL BRH DON SNE Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup

The Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup was awarded to the driver who started from pole position most often throughout the season. Champion George Russell won the trophy, on a tie-break with Arjun Maini, as Russell took more pole positions from qualifying sessions.[35]

Pos. Driver Poles
1 United Kingdom George Russell 5
2 India Arjun Maini 5
3 United Kingdom Sennan Fielding 4
4 South Africa Raoul Hyman 2
United Kingdom Will Palmer 2
6 Brazil Gaetano di Mauro 1
Republic of Ireland Charlie Eastwood 1
United Kingdom Tom Jackson 1
Brazil Gustavo Lima 1
Malaysia Rahul Raj Mayer 1
United Kingdom Struan Moore 1

References

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